What's Two Years Among Friends?
by Lancelotlaureate
Summary: Ian and Barbara are home and things are uncertain but they have each other and that's the most important thing.


Barbara showed Ian into the living room of the flat holding the candle into the space so they could see in the darkness that awaited them. There was no furniture in the room at all, just a few old cardboard boxes on the floor and some tatty curtains shutting out the moonlight from outside.

"Well it's certainly changed." Ian folded his arms, looking at the room which had once been Barbara's flat in 1963. "This place could actually have stray cats and dogs now!"

"I go away for two years and the place falls apart." She set the candle onto the mantelpiece and sighed. "Seems so long ago."

"I can't believe we have no electricity," Ian said.

"And no furniture," Barbara said, sitting onto the ground on top of an old mattress and motioning for Ian to join her. "Are you sure you'll be alright here on your own until this all gets sorted out?"

Ian looked around the cold dark flat and frowned. The two of them had only been home a week and in that time they'd been staying with Barbara's mother, but it was growing increasingly difficult to get a moment's peace in the cramped house her mother lived in. In the many times he'd tried to broach the subject of his and Barbara's relationship, Mrs. Wright had burst in the room holding the laundry basket talking about having haddock for dinner which put off any attempts at taking their relationship to whatever level was next.

"It's fine Barbara." It wasn't exactly fine but it would be one day, he knew that.

It was decided he would stay at Barbara's old flat, his own having been rented to a new tenant by his former landlady Mrs Russell who had been very distressed when she'd seen him arrive back at the property after two years without a trace. Barbara's flat had remained empty for most of her disappearance, ready for repairs to be carried out but Ian was grateful he had a temporary home there. It was strange to each of them to get used to new places of residence after two years in the TARDIS.

Ian sat down beside Barbara and looked deeply. He always thought she looked adorable in her pale coloured turtleneck jumper and he was glad she'd kept it after their travels. She paired it with a pair of leggings and flat sensible shoes which she slipped off when she wanted to get comfortable. He himself was also dressed casually, no longer a job to go to requiring him a suit and tie and so he simply wore a comfy old shirt and a pair of lounging-around trousers in a shade of cream.

They didn't own many possessions anymore. Some of their belongings had of course been saved by relatives who never gave up hope on finding them, but for the most part, the non-important items had been moved and passed on and sold.

"You're going to stay a while with me aren't you?" Ian asked as he stared at the television set which he couldn't watch because there was no electricity. "I'll be bored here alone."

Barbara smiled. "We're both used to noise. I must admit this seems very strange, but I'll stay here with you for a while, keep you company."

Ian felt awkward. His plans to talk about their relationship didn't seem to want to escape and he found himself talking about just about everything else. "The worse thing is the normality of it all. Out there with the Doctor I craved it and now I have it, somehow it scares me."

Barbara cuddled herself for warmth, feeling the chill of the room pass through her. "I know what you mean, I feel happy to be home and see my mother, but the other part of me misses it, misses the Doctor and Vicki. Oh Ian, do you think they'll be alright without us?"

He chuckled lightly. "I hope he's got some new muscle with him in the ship."

She slapped him gently on the arm. "Ian, don't joke, I worry about their safety."

"Well you know the Doctor, he's always getting out of scrapes and as for Vicki, well, she doesn't need much looking after does she?" He put his arm around her and hugged her. "They'll be alright."

She smiled. Ian's reassurance always seemed to make her feel better.

"The biggest question is what we do now," Ian said, scratching his chin.

"Oh yes, I've thought of nothing else since we got home. I suppose Coal Hill School would never take us back."

"Especially as they think we ran off together!"

"I know. It's horrific."

Ian frowned. "I wouldn't go that far, Barbara."

"I mean the idea that we could do that. I'd never leave them in the lurch and I'd never run off from a job I cared for just to marry, even if it was the right person."

Ian didn't want to get his hopes up that she'd just as much admitted he was the right person for her so he kept quiet. "Well then we'll have to settle things won't we? Let them believe their little story. We two know what happened and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Scandal be damned."

Barbara forced a smile. She wished she could have Ian's attitude and not care what others thought but she knew it bothered her way more than her friend. Her reputation was important to her and she'd spent years building up her career only for it to be pulled down around her. She wanted to be optimistic like Ian was but she knew it was likely it would be harder for her to secure employment than it would be for him, especially in the aftermath of a scandal.

Ian reached inside one of the cardboard boxes and pulled out a bottle of wine, wiping away the dust and then searching for two glasses which he found wrapped in newspaper. He noticed they'd been wrapped in a paper dated from 1964, the year they missed completely. "How about we worry about all that tomorrow, how about for now we just celebrate in the notion that we're back to the place we longed to see?"

"I'd like that very much." She couldn't grab the wine bottle quick enough and had poured them each a drink within moments. She wasted no time in drinking down a few gulps either.

Ian held his glass up. "To us!"

Barbara tapped her glass against his. "To us."

"Whatever _us_ is…" Ian trailed off.

Barbara sensed he wanted to talk about their relationship, she too had been wondering where they were to go from this point, what lay ahead for the two schoolteachers turned friends, turned…well she wasn't sure what they were. There was a deep connection between them and she knew there was nobody else she cared for as much in the whole world. But broaching the subject was awkward and seemed rash in a week of worrying about returning to normal life.

She decided to ignore his remark. "Well at least you won't have to clean for a few days seeing as you haven't got any furniture."

"Very funny, very funny." He shoved his friend slightly and she lost her balance and fell onto the mattress behind them. She laughed and pulled him down beside her so they were staring up at the cracked ceiling.

"If we were still travelling there could be three moons above us or a rich red sky," Ian said, half with sadness that he couldn't see such beauty, and half with relief that the ceiling was so ordinary and so unthreatening.

"I wonder what's worse…running from an alien insect army or having to deal with the sixth formers and their hormones."

Ian laughed. "Oh the sixth formers definitely. Tell me, why did we come home again?"

"To live a life, just like everyone before us."

"You're right. That wandering lark grew a bit tiring didn't it?"

"And Ian Chesterton is the type of man to set up roots. I wondered at one stage whether you'd have decided to settle somewhere on some planet or some time in the past."

He smiled. "I did consider it you know? But there was always something stopping me."

"Which was?"

He shyly looked away, feeling his cheeks flush with embarrassment. "I didn't want to stay anywhere without you."

Barbara took another gulp of her wine and smiled. Why was it every time she felt awkward she started drinking?

Ian scratched the back of his head. "I thought a lot about it over those two years in the TARDIS, Barbara, and I always thought…well I sort of assumed in a hopeful kind of way that you and I…well…I don't know, I just sort of thought we'd somehow make a go of it together eventually."

Barbara couldn't look at him right away but she could smile. "I always wondered about it, Ian. During our dangerous times there wasn't a moment to breathe but in the rare quiet points, it crossed my mind. I hoped too."

"And on top of everything, we're the only two who know how each other feel about time and space."

"You're the only person in the world I can ever share these moments with."

She looked at him and he gazed back at her, lost in a precious moment of understanding.

He shuffled closer to her. "I sometimes wonder had we not gone with the Doctor whether we'd have eventually come to this?"

Barbara sighed. "Oh I don't think so, Ian."

He frowned. "Oh I see."

"I don't mean it like that, but let's not over-analyse it, we weren't some star-crossed lovers destined to be together no matter what."

"No you're right. And I suppose our story is better. We found a way to each other, it may have taken longer but it was more rewarding in the end."

Barbara looked away. "I suddenly feel very hot," she said, sensing she was blushing. She and Ian had become close but she never expected such a deep conversation. "Must be the wine."

Ian turned her to face him. "I hope this isn't therefore too presumptuous, Barbara, but seeing as our thoughts seem to be on the same page, how about we start from here, from this little old flat with no furniture? How about this is the beginning of our new lives together?"

"Are you asking me out to dinner or aren't you?" There was a cheeky glance in his direction.

"If the lady shall ask then the lady shall receive."

Ian scrambled to another cardboard box and found a piece of paper and a pen. He laughed as he wrote down and read aloud. "Tuesday the 14th, date with Barbara Wright, next stop anywhere."

There was an awkward silence as Ian slipped the crumpled bit of paper into his shirt pocket and glanced shyly at Barbara. There had never been any awkwardness between them before but now suddenly everything was different, life was different and he found it both daunting and exciting at the same time.

He lay back down beside Barbara on the floor, their heads resting on the comfy pillows, and he smiled. "Compared to some of the places we've slept on our travels, this feels like luxury. One luxury lumpy mattress."

She grabbed his hand and murmured softly as she gently closed her eyes, intertwining her fingers with his. She felt so content and relaxed at that moment and was quite happy to ignore the days ahead of explaining their whereabouts, finding work and getting back into society, becoming cogs in the machinery of life.

A moment later, Ian nudged her in the ribs. She'd fallen asleep. "Wake up Barbara, wake up, we're missing a great tele programme."

Barbara sat up abruptly and looked at the blank screen. She folded her arms. "The television isn't on nor is it likely to be anytime soon."

"Ah but Ian-vision is on and coming up is a real treat."

"Ian-vision?"

"An exciting new television experience from the mind of Ian Chesterton."

"I'm not sure anyone's ready for that."

"Now, now, you haven't heard the idea yet." He took Barbara's hand and led her right in front of the television set so they were sitting up close like children fascinated by their first viewing. "It's a new science fiction series. Two teachers are kidnapped and taken on the most amazing adventures in time and space."

"It's not really my cup of tea," Barbara teased. "Not unless there's a history story in there somewhere?"

"Oh there'll be history and there'll be adventures aplenty."

"Just one problem. We know how it ends."

"Ah but the viewers don't."

Barbara smirked at Ian and rested her head on his shoulder. "Oh Ian, I like the idea but I'm sorry, and I say this with love, it'll never catch on."

Ian laughed. "It'll have to stay in our heads then won't it?" He pointed to the television screen. "That grey bit there is Vortis, the crater of needles."

They both fell silent and simply stared at the blank screen, contemplating, reminiscing, and wondering, would the Doctor miss them? They missed him terribly and no matter how many days passed they would never forget him.

Barbara turned the knob on the television set and stared intently at Ian.

"I was watching that," he replied with disappointment.

"How about we watch each other for a while instead?"


End file.
